Steven Shattered
by ToothPasteCanyon
Summary: The Diamonds aren't idiots; they know Steven isn't the Gem they want on trial. In trying to get the real Rose Quartz, however, some strange things happen to Steven. Canon-divergent after the events of 'Stuck Together'.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold, dark cell where Steven sat alone, thinking. He didn't know how long it had been since he was separated from Lars; there was no day, no night, no way to tell hours from minutes in such an enclosure. Where did they take him? What were they going to do with him?

Steven didn't know, and that was the worst part. If it wasn't for him and his loud mouth, Lars wouldn't be at the mercy of the Diamonds.

"Hey!" A door opened, and a red Gem marched through. "You two! It's time to change the guards!"

Two buff, orange Gems guarding Steven looked up sharply at the sight of the Gem and saluted. "Yes, Fire Agate! Right away!"

Steven waved as they marched away. "Bye, you-"

"No talking to my guards!" Fire Agate snapped.

"Oh, I was just-"

"Homeworld knows all about that silver tongue of yours, Rose. How you tricked loyal Gems into joining that little Rebellion of yours." Her face twisted into a sadistic grin. "We have ways of shutting you up if you keep trying to convert my troops."

Steven gulped and nodded. He watched in silence as two Amethysts filed into the room and took position on either side of the destablilising field that contained him.

Amethysts, Steven thought. He wondered what Amethyst - Crystal Gem Amethyst - was doing right now. He missed her so much.

"Alright, you two. Your orders are to stand here and guard Rose. Any unusual behaviour, you report it to me." Agate stabbed a finger at both of them. "And do not, under any circumstances, speak to the traitor. I'll have you shattered if you say so much as a word; do you understand me?"

The Amethysts saluted. "Yes, Fire Agate!"

"Good. They'll be another set of guards coming to relieve you shortly, although," She shot one last grin at Steven. "I suspect the Diamonds will send for her before that happens. That will be all."

Steven couldn't help but shiver as Fire Agate left. He was going to meet the Diamonds, who thought he was Rose Quartz! What were they going to do? Shatter him?

This, too, he didn't know. Whatever it was, he wasn't expecting anything good.

"I-It's okay, though." Steven wiped his eyes, which were filling with tears. "This is the only way to fix this. To save Earth, my friends... to stop what she started."

"Hey, Rose!" One of the Amethysts banged on the wall. "Shut it in there!"

The other Amethyst grabbed her shoulder. "What are you doing? We're not supposed to talk to her!"

"I wasn't talking to her, I was yelling at her!"

"Try explaining that to Fire Agate!"

Steven piped up. "Well, maybe you could-"

"Shut up!"

"See, you did it again! You're gonna get us both killed!"

"Alright, alright!" The first Amethyst crossed her arms. "I'll stop, jeez."

The Amethysts resumed their stance, and the room descended into silence again. In absence of anything to distract him, anything to take his mind off Lars, missing home, his imminent meeting with the Diamonds, he put his head in his arms and cried.

As much as it was the right thing to do, he really, really didn't want to do this. All he wanted to do was be back at home with Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, on Earth. He loved his life; he didn't want to die. He didn't want to die!

The door opened, and Steven looked up. Fire Agate was back, this time followed by two stonefaced Topazes. By the look of their Gem placement, they weren't the same fusion Steven had already met.

"It's time." Agate grinned once more at Steven; oh, he hated that grin. "Amethyst, turn off the destablilising field. The Diamonds are waiting."

Steven tentatively stepped forward as the field was deactivated, only to be seized by Agate herself. She leaned down to him with a murderous expression.

"You're going to pay for what you did to my Diamond." She shoved him towards the Topazes, who immediately caught his arms in an iron grip. "Take her to the Temple, and remember, not a word between either of you and the Rose Quartz. That will be all."

The Topazes nodded, turned, and started out the door. Steven stumbled over himself trying to keep pace while also looking around; the hallway was the colour of a strange, shimmering rainbow, so bright it was hard to distinguish floor from walls. There were no windows.

"Huh," Steven spoke to nobody in particular. "I guess Homeworld isn't big on sightseeing."

A sharp tug from one of the Topazes threw him off balance, and he was dragged along for the rest of the hallway. If the two Gems noticed, they didn't seem to care.

Eventually, they came to a stop. Steven wondered what was happening until the floor started lowering rapidly, like a falling elevator. The Topazes stayed rooted to the ground, keeping a firm hold on Steven as he started floating upwards.

"Whoa!" Steven giggled, smiling for the first time since he was separated from Lars. "This is kinda-!"

The elevator abruptly stopped, leaving Steven to smash his face on the floor. "Ow, my nose... Is it bleeding?" He looked up as the Topazes started dragging him along again. "Hey, guys, can we stop for a second? My nose is bleeding! Guys!"

The guards didn't stop, nor give any indication that they were listening at all. Steven blinked painful tears out of his eyes, watching a trail of blood drops form behind him without an arm free to stem the flow. All traces of his smile were long gone.

Then the Topazes stopped again.

"Uh... is this like the other time you guys stopped?" Steven braced himself for another fall, but instead, a door opened in front of them.

A very large door. The Topazes marched forwards into a very dark room, with only a small white triangle glowing in the centre. On that triangle, they dumped Steven.

"What is this place?" Steven stood up, but they pushed him back down. The message was clear: _don't move_. "Where are you going?"

Then they turned and marched away, the door closing behind him. Steven sighed, sat back and pinched his nose.

This must be where he would meet the Diamonds. There was nothing to do now but wait.

He shivered, wrapping his arms around his legs. "It's, it's kinda cold in here. I guess Gems don't really need heat, but still."

"It's too cold for you, Rose?" A thin, sharp voice echoed from the void. "Because we can make it so much colder."

Steven gasped as two Diamonds revealed themselves in a flash of light, glaring down at him. Suddenly the dark room was far too bright.

"Rose Quartz?" Yellow Diamond raised an eyebrow. "I believe they have made a mistake. This is one of those humans!"

Summoning all the courage he had in him, Steven stood up and lifted his shirt. "I am Rose Quartz!"

"You're right, Yellow." Blue raised a skeptical eyebrow. "This one appears to be injured."

"No, no, I really am her!" He summoned his shield. "Look! Can a human do that?"

Yellow narrowed her eyes at Steven. "It does have her shield. Is this some kind of hybrid abomination?"

"Uh... no?"

Blue's shoulders sagged. "It's... it's not her. I know it's not her."

"It is me!" Steven was starting to believe this was a waste of effort. "I-I have her Gem! Look!"

"Yes, it does have a Rose Quartz Gem." Yellow put a hand on the other Diamond. "There is a simple solution to this."

Steven's eyes widened as Yellow Diamond began to walk straight towards him, boots shaking the ground where she stepped. She came closer, until he couldn't see her face, closer, until she was right under him, and she raised one foot...

"Wait!" Steven tried to jump out of the way, but the white triangle, there was some kind of barrier, and her foot, it was coming down! "Stop! Please!"

The boot came down on Steven, and crushing pain wracked his body. He couldn't see, couldn't move, could only suffer in pain, so much pain-

And then, the pain disappeared. Steven jumped up, opening his eyes and seeing... Earth? He was at the barn? He looked around in confusion at the setting sun and the corn stalks gently swaying in the breeze. He wasn't cold anymore.

This was great but, how did he get here? He was just on Homeworld... was this a dream? Steven raised a hand to pinch himself, but instead of his regular arms, one stubby, orange arm came into view.

Steven yelped in surprise, but it came out as more of a whine. He couldn't speak at all, and he was on four legs!

What's going on?!

"There you are!" Steven turned to see Peridot running towards him; before he could react she swept him up in her arms and held him tightly. "Lapis and I have been looking for you everywhere!"

Short, orange arms. No speech. Four legs.

"Let's get you home, Pumpkin."

Oh, no.


	2. Chapter 2

So... he was Pumpkin now. Steven glanced down at Peridot's now huge arms wrapped around him, and the sizeable distance between him and the ground. This was so weird. What happened to him?

He remembered Yellow Diamond's foot coming down on him, the pain... he'd been crushed! He couldn't have survived that - oh no, he was dead. _He just died!_

"Hey, stop wriggling!" Peridot readjusted her grip; he could feel her arms. He could feel the chill in the breeze. So he couldn't be dead. This was just like the Watermelon Steven situation, in a way. He must've just passed out. He'd wake up in no time!

Oh, wait, that wasn't reassuring. He was still on Homeworld.

"Hey, you guys, look who I found in the corn kindergarten!" Steven was placed on the ground, shaking him out of his thoughts. "It's Pumpkin!"

Steven took in his environment; there was the barn, and off to the side some kind of unfinished spaceship. Pearl was welding something on the top, and Lapis was standing on the ground with a toolbox.

" _Pearl_!" Steven barked, dashing towards her. He jumped, realised he didn't have floating powers, picked himself up and put his front paws on the base of the spaceship. " _It's me, Steven_!"

Pearl looked down, a frown set on her face. "Uhh... what is that creature doing?"

"Pumpkin just wants to say hello, I think." Lapis rolled her eyes. "She's ignoring me."

" _Oh, sorry Lapis! I- wait! Gotta stay focused._ " Steven looked to the ground inches away from his face. " _Can't talk, need another plan. Hmmm_..."

"Well, what is it doing now?"

"I-! Have no idea." Peridot leaned down. "Burying a bone? I've heard that's what some domesticated Earth creatures do."

"Why would they do that?"

"I don't know, Lapis."

"Alright, enough distractions." Pearl turned back to the spaceship, a frown set on her face. "We have a mission."

" _But wait! Look over here! It says_ -" Steven squinted at the message he had scratched in the dirt. " _Nevermind, you can't really read it. Curse these cute yet useless legs_!"

"Yes, a mission." Peridot picked up a screwdriver and walked over to the nearby chalkboard. "Let me have a look at the blueprints."

"Lapis, can you pass me a screwdriver, please?"

"Here you go."

Steven watched them work in a sort of panicked daze; his muscles didn't want to work all of a sudden. How was he going to get their attention if he couldn't speak or write? Even Pearl didn't recognise him; she knew when he went into a Watermelon Steven!

And why did he feel so... cold? And tired? And wait... his vision was fading. He must be waking up!

" _Wait_!" Steven took one frantic look around the planet he called home. " _I don't wanna go back_! _Lapis! Peridot! Pearl_!"

"Pumpkin? What's the matter with Pumpkin..."

And Steven was gone. He covered his eyes - he could do that again - not wanting to find himself all the way back on Homeworld, alone. He peeked through a crack in his fingers... and it quickly became apparent that he wasn't in another dark cell.

"Am I in my mom's room?" Steven raised an eyebrow, looking around at the fluffy pink clouds. "How did I get here?"

There was no answer to his latest question. Steven sighed.

"Well, at least I'm not a pumpkin anymore. Room, I've had a weird day. Can I just play videogames for a bit?"

He waited, but videogames were not fourthcoming.

"Huh? Oh, where are my manners! Room, can I please play videogames?"

Still nothing.

"Oh-kay. What's going on?" He wandered through the clouds. "Room? Roo-oom?"

There was nothing but clouds for as far as the eye could see, and it was so, so quiet. Steven hugged his arms to his chest and continued looking around - wait, what was that, in the distance?

"A mirror!" Steven slowed as he approached it. "Why is there a mirror in Rose's Room?" He stepped in front of it. "This doesn't make any- _Whoa, what the_ -?!"

Steven stumbled back from the mirror, his heart pounding in his chest. That was... the reflection... that was his mom!

"What is going on?" He lay on the ground, just looking up at the sky and breathing until he had calmed down. Not all the way, but enough to pick himself up and face the mirror.

There was Rose again. "Mom?"

Rose's lips moved with his. He frowned in confusion, and Rose copied the expression. Then he looked down, and Rose's exclamation of shock and horror perfectly mirrored his.

" _I've turned into my mom_?!" Steven clutched his temples. "How did this happen? How did this... how did this... where am I!? What the heck is going on?"

In the midst of this panic, an explanation occurred to him, so simple, and so terrifying. "Did I poof? Am I in my Gem right now?"

He'd always wondered what would happen if he got poofed; he was thinking that Rose would come back, and he would just cease to exist. This was a much better outcome, but it was still pretty weird.

"Okay, so I didn't turn back into my mom, but I look like her now." Steven crossed his arms. "I could really do with a t-shirt right now."

And suddenly he was wearing his t-shirt. An idea struck him.

"And pants. And my hair isn't this long. Also, I'm shorter- wait, too short! There... Oh, my hair is brown, not pink." Strangely, his hair remained pink, and his arms were still a shade paler than normal. That was okay, though; at least he looked like himself again.

Steven sat down again, looking up at the cloudy sky with a smile. "It's really nice here. Really peaceful, but..." His smile dropped. "I can't stay here. I have to get back home."

"Maybe... if I fell asleep again..." He closed his eyes. "I can try again... Talk to... the Gems..."

He felt himself falling asleep again, his conscience travelling back to Earth. He was getting warmer.


	3. Chapter 3

"Pumpkin! Pumpkin!" Steven opened his eyes, finding himself face to face with a very worried Peridot. The sun was shining right behind her, giving her face an odd shadow.

" _Peridot!_ " He stared right at her, then slowly repeated himself. " _Perrr-id-ot. Perr-id-_ "

"Yo, what's the hold up?" Steven recognised Amethyst's voice from behind Peridot. "You done playing with that thing so you can get back to work on the spaceship?"

Peridot frowned, and turned around. "I'm not 'playing', Amethyst. I think she's sick!"

"What, so you're playing doctor?"

"Amethyst, this is serious! Pumpkin has had two seizures within hours of each other, and now she's just whimpering at me! This has never happened before! Why isn't Lapis back yet?"

"She's just off getting more scrap; calm down." Amethyst came into view, a tired frown set on her face. "Look, why don't I hold this thing for you, and you go work on the spaceship?"

"Nyuh..."

"I'll keep it totally safe, I promise."

"Fine." Peridot handed Steven over and started towards the spaceship, shooting nervous glances over her shoulder.

"Just go, Peri!"

Steven felt himself getting set down on the grass next to Amethyst. "Alright, stay there. Stay... ah, whatever. You're just some dumb animal, or vegetable, or... wait, are pumpkins vegetables? Ah, who cares!"

Amethyst threw herself down on the ground, looking up at the sky. It was a beautiful, cloudless morning; the sun had just risen over the grassy hills, washing the horizon in a deep orange. Steven took a moment to appreciate the warm rays on his face, the gentle breeze washing over him and the soft, swishy grass he was sitting on. Earth was wonderful; it was a shame that sooner or later, he'd have to return to Homeworld.

"Steven, you're an idiot."

The sentence caught Steven off guard, but when he turned to Amethyst he could see it wasn't directed towards him. She had twisted around and started glaring at the spaceship, a fistful of grass gripped tightly in her hands.

Almost instinctively, Steven reached out a hand to comfort her. Amethyst flinched away, and gave him a weird look. "What are you doing?"

Steven watched her stand up and walk away from him, fists clenched. He wanted to run after her, but that familiar coldness was sweeping in now, washing away the sights, sounds, sensations of Earth.

And just like that, he was back in his Gem. Steven sighed, falling back on the pink clouds. "Well, that didn't work." He thought about how worried Peridot was. "I hope Pumpkin's alright. Maybe there's a different way to get to them - the Watermelon Stevens! Oh, wait. They're on an island, that wouldn't work. Come on, Steven, think!"

He closed his eyes, remembering all the times he'd used his dream powers before. He'd talked to Lapis - but that was when she was fused with Jasper. Lars? He wasn't on Earth, but maybe he could at least make sure he was alive...

Steven tried as hard as he could, but he couldn't get to Lars. He tried to put all the horrible explanations for that aside for now and keep brainstorming.

After Lars, he'd made Pumpkin, and then fought off pizza nightmares with Kiki... Kiki!

"Ugh, it was just morning, though." Steven frowned. "Early morning... Maybe I can still catch her! Dream Warrior powers, activate!"

He promptly collapsed on the fluffy clouds and began to snore.

And now he was flying through the air... with Dogcopter! Steven grinned.

"Dogcopter! Just the 'copter I wanted to see. Do you know where Kiki is?"

The dog looked at him, looked down, and started flying towards the ground. Steven followed him through a cave, a dark cave with no end in sight.

"Dogcopter?" He saw a small light in the distance. "Where'd you go?"

Steven came flying out of the cave, and almost immediately collided into Kiki herself. "Whoa! Sorry, Kiki!"

"It's okay!" Kiki picked herself up and brushed herself off. "I'm all good... Steven?"

"Haha, yeah!"

Her eyes widened. "But you... I thought - you know, when they took you... How? And why is your hair pink?"

"I don't really know... but that's not important!" Steven gripped her shoulders. "Listen, Kiki, I really need you to deliver a message to the Gems. I don't know if you'll find them in my house, but you can ask my dad and he'll drive you to the barn. Can you do this for me, please?"

Kiki nodded. "Of course, Steven. What do you need me to say?"

"Well, uh, you need to tell them - sorry, I didn't think this far ahead - you need to tell them... I'm at Homeworld, and I can talk to them through Pumpkin, and the Diamonds don't think I'm Rose, and that I failed and... that I miss them, and that... that I'm sorry."

He looked up to see Kiki wearing a bewildered expression. "Uhh, I think I'll need that written down."

"Oh, sorry!" Steven wiped his misty eyes. "Just tell them that I can talk to them through Pumpkin. That's fine."

"Hey, Steven, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just a really long way from home, and... I don't know if I'm coming back, that's all."

Kiki put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, everybody in Beach City misses you, Steven. We're all rooting for you."

"Thanks, Kiki." He wrapped her in a hug. "It's really n-nice to t-t-talk to somebody... oh, no."

That characteristic coldness was back. He'd run out of time.

"What's wrong, St- whoa!" She gripped his arm. "You're fading away!"

"It's okay! Just deliver the message!"

Kiki nodded, still looking deeply shocked. "Okay. I will, Dream Warrior."

Everything faded away, and he was back in the pink clouds of his Gem. Steven just wrapped his arms around his legs and cried. It wasn't so bad at first, but the more glimpses he was able to catch of his old life, his old friends, the more he was reminded that he'd probably never see them in person again. How was he going to get off Homeworld?

"Alright, Steven, don't worry about it right now." He picked himself up and wiped his eyes. "Has Kiki told them yet? Ugh, I wish there was a way to tell time in here. It's okay, I'll just go into Pumpkin and-"

 _Thunk_. The sound echoed through the pink clouds, long and low and ominous. Steven stopped, and frowned.

"What was that?"

There it was again! A little louder this time. And again, louder still.

Then, the small, quiet _tink_ of something shattering. Steven grabbed at his stomach in pain.

"What is that?" He looked up to see the clouds turned a faint shade of red. "What are they doing out there? I've gotta... get out!"

His Gem was glowing now. Steven looked down, but when he looked up again he saw quite a different sight from the peaceful pink clouds.

Two Amethysts loomed over his Gem, with hammers and chisels. Standing above them was Fire Agate, with that familiar cruel grin.

"Ah, there you are, Rose. You look surprised... Did you honestly think we'd let you hide away in your Gem forever?"


	4. Chapter 4

Steven scrambled away from the Gems, clutching his stomach. He felt awful; pain burned like fire around the spot where his gemstone sat, and his legs trembled, drained of energy.

"I'll send word to the Diamonds that Rose is out of her Gem." Fire Agate turned on her heel and started walking away. "Amethysts, set up the destablilising field and stand guard. Don't talk to her. That will be all."

"Yes, Fire Agate!" The Amethysts saluted, and got to work. Steven watched as the yellow field whirred into existence.

He winced, and sat up, nervously uncupping his hand to reveal his gemstone. A sizeable chip was missing from the side, wide and jagged. Steven took a deep breath, licked his hand, and slapped it on the crack.

It glowed, and slowly repaired itself. The pain disappeared, and Steven fell back on the cold floor with a relieved sigh. With all the weird stuff going on with his powers lately, he was a little worried that wasn't going to work.

"Whoa." A voice came from outside the cell, and Steven looked up. One of the Amethysts was staring at him. "How'd you do that?"

"Oh, I have healing spit. I just-"

The other Amethyst let out a loud groan. "Oh my stars, 9FA. Are you trying to get us shattered?"

"Just wait a moment, 9FF." 9FA leaned in closer. "Can you, can you do that to other Gems?"

Steven nodded. "Yeah. Is someone hurt?"

"Well, uh, yes." She glanced at the door, and then brushed some hair off of her shoulder. There was her gemstone, a deep purple hexagon with a small crack on the facet. "Do you think you could heal this?"

9FF grabbed her arm. "Stop. Do you realise how many rules you're breaking right now? If somebody walks in right now-"

"I can't keep hiding this from Fire Agate! Once she finds out I'm cracked, I'll be stationed out at some distant Kindergarten, handling Injectors until something shatters me for good. You think someone else is gonna walk in here with healing powers anytime soon?"

"But... ugh, fine." The Amethyst turned away. "I am checking the monitors. I am not seeing this. I am not involved in this."

"Thanks, 9FF."

"I'm not hearing this either!"

9FA smiled at her, then turned back to Steven. "So, you think you can heal this?"

"Of course!" Steven licked his hand, reaching out past the destabilising field- "Ow! It... stopped me?"

The Amethyst laughed. "Well, yeah. That's what it's supposed to do."

Steven frowned, staring at his pale hand. Before he was able to reach through, but now he couldn't?

"Here, I'll just open it for a second. Don't, um, try and escape or anything, because then I'll have to poof you, and that'd be bad for both of us." She gave a short, nervous laugh. "I'm a bad liar."

"Just a friendly reminder that Fire Agate could come through the door at any minute!"

"Oh, yeah." 9FA pushed a button, and the field dissipated. "Let's do this quickly."

She leaned in, and Steven licked his hand and placed it on the crack. It started to glow, much to her amazement.

"It really worked..." 9FA was still marveling at her healing gemstone as she turned the field back on. She looked at Steven. "Th-thank you! I don't know why you'd want to help me, but I really appreciate it."

Steven wiped his hand on his shirt. "No prob, Bob."

"Bob...?"

"It's a figure of speech on Earth."

"Oh, okay. Well, thanks anyway!"

"Yeah, thanks for helping her." 9FF crossed her arms. "That was... cool of you, I guess."

"How'd your Gem get cracked in the first-"

"No more talking, though."

"Right. Sorry!" Steven sat back, twiddling with his thumbs. He thought about Kiki; she had to have delivered the message by now, right? If he just went to sleep-

The doors opened. "Amethysts! The destablilising field!"

9FA blinked. "Wh-what about it?"

"Open it!" Agate turned the two Topazes who had followed her in. "The Diamonds request Rose's presence at the Temple immediately. You know the drill."

Steven piped up. "Um, can I-"

Agate stabbed a finger at him. "No talking, Rose!" She turned to the Amethysts. "Has she been talking to you?"

"Uhhh..."

"She has not, Fire Agate." 9FF quickly cut in.

"Good. That will be all, you two. Topaz, seize the traitor."

The Topazes advanced into Steven's cell, and he couldn't help but back away from them. It was a small cell, though, and as soon as he hit the wall they grabbed his arms and dragged him out. Steven got one last glimpse at the Amethysts - one looking at him, one looking away - and Fire Agate's vicious grin before he was being pulled out of the door.

Steven made sure to keep up with the Topazes this time. "So, uh, nice to see you guys again."

Stony silence.

"You guys don't talk much, do you? That's okay, I met two other Topazes like that too. They were really nice."

The Topazes came to a stop; Steven remembered this part. He braced himself for another nosebleed, but this time, his feet remained firmly on the ground even as the ground was rushing downwards at an alarming rate.

Something had changed after Yellow Diamond... attacked him. He had a good idea of what that something was, but he really, really didn't want to think about it at the moment. It was a terrifying thought.

And they were at the Diamond's door again. Steven took a deep breath as they placed him on the white triangle, steeling himself for the second meeting. They needed to think he was Rose. Bad things happened when they weren't convinced.

He stood up as the Topazes left. "Hey, Yellow Diamond! Blue Diamond! It's me, Rose Quartz!"

"We'll see about that." The Diamonds appeared, glaring down at him. "It still looks like a human to me. What do you think, Blue?"

"This is just my current form!" Steven retorted. "I like looking like a human!"

Blue's lip curled. "It's just a loud human. Let's toss it into space, Yellow."

"And let me live? I shattered Pink Diamond!"

Yellow Diamond's fists clenched. " _I know_. No, Blue, that's not a human. Rose doesn't deserve that kind of mercy."

Wait, Steven thought. He could survive space! He wouldn't be heavily guarded on Homeworld, which would make it easy to just contact the Gems to pick him up. He could go home! That sounded much better than whatever the Diamonds had in store for Rose! "Wait-"

"You're right, Yellow." Blue's voice was dangerously soft. "I think she is really Rose; what fool would dare mention Pink's murder in our presence? No, we won't simply toss her out into space. She deserves a... special punishment."

Steven laughed nervously. "Are you sure? I mean, floating out in space forever sounds like a pretty special punishment to me!"

" _Silence_!" Yellow pinched her nose. "I can't stand to hear another word from your mouth, Rose Quartz. Somebody get this traitor out of my sight whilst we decide on what to do with her!"

The doors opened, and two Jaspers hurried in, saluted, and roughly grabbed Steven's shoulders.

"Wait!" He cried. "I'm not my mom! I'm Steven! Please don't give me a special punishment!"

The Diamonds turned away, deaf to his pleading.


	5. Chapter 5

So, he freaked out a little bit a little bit with the Diamonds. That was... that wasn't quite how he saw that turning out, to say the least. The idea of going home, it just seized upon him, and when it was taken away...

Steven shook himself, blinking tears out of his eyes as he and the Jaspers approached the prison door. Nothing had changed, really. The entire point of giving himself up to Homeworld was to protect the people he loved, even if it meant submitting to whatever horrible punishment the Diamonds had in store for him.

Even if it meant never going home again.

"I'm okay with this."

"No talking, Rose."

His shoulders sagged. He was okay with this.

"Back again?" Fire Agate clasped her arms behind her back as the Jaspers brought Steven in. "They must have something special in mind for you, Rose."

Steven said nothing.

"Something special, did you hear that? It's what you deserve for shattering my Diamond!"

Fire Agate stood there as the destabilising field was put up, in silence. Eventually she cleared her throat. "Right... 9HL! 9HM!"

Two Carnelians standing to the side saluted. "Yes, Fire Agate?"

"Guard duty. I'm sure I don't have to remind of your expectations." She turned to the Jaspers. "Send word to the Diamonds that Rose Quartz is secure. And, if I may, can you inquire about my pending rotation to Yellow Diamond? As I'm sure she knows, I've been in charge of this section of containment facilities since the dawn of Era Two and-" She watched the Jaspers walk off, and sneered. "Of course. That will be all."

The door closed, leaving Steven alone with his thoughts once again... or so he thought.

"Aww, yeah." The Carnelians suddenly reached out and high fived each other. "We got the cool prisoner!"

He sat up. "Huh?"

"You're the one that healed 9FA, right?" The Gem to the right grinned. "Man, we've been worrying about it since that explosion five rotations ago!"

"Explosion?"

"Some Quartz prisoner punched the wall, and the wall did _not_ like that." The other Gem looked over to Steven, suddenly serious. "Don't get any ideas about escaping, though. 9FA was the lucky one; there wasn't much left of the prisoner when the dust settled."

Steven clutched his gemstone. "Oh."

"Yeah, it was bad. And after that, we were all waiting for the day when Fire Agate finds out and sends her away. But you healed her Gem, so we don't have to anymore!"

"So... thanks."

Steven smiled. "You're welcome."

"So, yeah! Cool prisoner. That's you."

A thought hit him. "So... there are other prisoners?"

"'Course! There's tons of them!"

"Are any of them, um, human?"

"Human?" The second Gem frowned at the other. "What's a human, 9HL?"

"No idea. What's a human, cool prisoner?"

"Wait, have you guys... heard of the Earth?"

Both Carnelians shook their heads.

"That's gonna be difficult to explain... Well, are there any prisoners named, 'Lars' here?"

"Lars... I remember that name!" 9HL frowned. "A bit whiny, that one. They took it away; I dunno where."

"So... he could be at the Zoo?"

"What's the Zoo?"

"Somewhere they hold humans."

The Carnelian shrugged. "Then the Lars is probably there, I guess. I don't know anywhere else they would put it."

"That makes sense. Thanks, you guys!"

"Hey, it's 'no prob, bob!"

Steven leaned back, frowning. If the Carnelian didn't know anywhere else they would put Lars, then he had to be at the Zoo. If he wasn't, then... No, he had to be at the Zoo! He'd probably hate it there, but at least he was safe. And since Kiki had to have delivered the message by now, it should be easy to let the Gems know so they could pick him up!

Everyone would turn out okay from this - except for him, but that was alright. He was okay with this.

And so Steven closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep...

"-And we're just sitting here, looking after some stupid pumpkin when we should be working on the ship!"

"Amethyst, please!"

"Don't 'Amethyst, please' me!" Steven opened his eyes; he was in his house, his actual house! And there were the Gems... with Amethyst and Pearl having an argument whilst the others looked on nervously. "One human has a weird dream, and suddenly everyone stops working on the ship to watch this thing! I have weird dreams all the time; should we abandon Steven to stop burritos from taking over the world? Oh, or what about that time I dreamed everything was underwater? Should we all start shapeshifting gills?"

Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. "That's not the same thing and you know it. Steven has the ability to contact people through his dreams!"

"All the way from Homeworld? That's, like, light years away." Her expression darkened. "Maybe those seizures mean something else. Maybe they mean we've stopped working on the ship too long, and we're already too late. Any of you thought about that? Maybe he's already dead!"

Peridot shrank back, hugging one of Lapis' arms to her chest. Pearl covered her mouth. Garnet stood up from the couch, fists clenched.

"Amethyst, stop, _now_."

Amethyst blushed and went silent, shooting everybody one last furious look before storming off to her room.

" _Amethyst_!" Steven barked, and all attention was drawn to him.

Pearl immediately picked him up, held him right up to her face and shouted, "Steven, is that you in there? Blink twice for yes!"

Steven blinked twice, and then yelped when Pearl's grip loosened. She caught him before he hit the ground

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry! G-Garnet, why don't you hold him?"

She passed Steven to Garnet, who gripped him a little too tightly. Peridot and Lapis gathered around the Gem, surprise, confusion and worry written all over their faces.

"Steven." Garnet's tone was deadly serious. "Do you know where you are? Have you seen the Diamonds?"

Steven shook his head; that wasn't what he came here to tell them! " _Lars! The Zoo! Can somebody please get me a piece of paper?"_

"I don't think he can talk." Peridot frowned. "Pumpkin certainly couldn't, and believe me, we've tried. We'll need another approach!"

Lapis held out a magazine. "He could use this! I just finished reading it before... you know."

"Good thinking, you two. I-I'll go get a pencil!"

Steven grinned as he was set down on the floor. After a little fumbling, he took the pencil in his mouth and managed to scribble out something intelligible.

Pearl raised an eyebrow. "LarZoo? You're at the Zoo?

" _No! Lars is at the Zoo!_ " Steven shook his head frantically; he could feel the cold setting in again. He didn't have much time left! " _Come on, guys!_ "

"You're not at the Zoo? Then why'd you write that down, you clod?"

" _That's not important! Go save Lars, don't worry about me!_ "

"He must be talking about that human they took with him." Pearl's expression crumpled. "Steven, please..."

"Steven." Garnet removed her visor; there was a terror in those three eyes that he hadn't seen since they'd rescued him from space. Steven quieted down, trying his best to ignore the growing coldness as she spoke. "You have to understand, giving yourself up to Homeworld won't stop the Diamonds from invading Earth. We need you here with us, Steven - and not just because of Homeworld's threat." She stroked his cheek, a little smile on her face. "Because we love you, Steven. All of us"

"Yeah!" Peridot added from the side. "You've done so much for... everybody, really. Let us help you!"

"Earth isn't the same without you, Steven." Lapis looked down. "We really miss you."

Pearl nodded in silent agreement.

Seeing them all like this was heartbreaking... but Steven could see his vision fading by the second. He needed to say something, anything- but the next thing he knew, he was jumping up, stumbling, falling down, breathing hard in the same old cell back on Homeworld.

He felt _exhausted_.

"Hey, you're alive." One of the guards - different ones, Jaspers - said with a chuckle. "How're you doing, cool prisoner?"

Steven let his breath steady before responding. After what he had seen, that was a hard question to answer. "I... I don't know anymore."


	6. Chapter 6

Steven didn't know how long he'd spent lying in his cell - certainly longer than any other time he'd been kept in there - but he was still utterly exhausted when Fire Agate came storming through the door, alone.

She stabbed a finger at the Jasper guards. "You two! Get out, now."

"Is there trouble?"

" _Get out!_ Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"

"Yes, yes! R-right away, Fire Agate!" As they hurried out the door, exchanging worried looks, Fire Agate stalked over to the centre of the room opposite Steven and sat down, a chair seeming to materialise under her. She swiped her hand horizontally and a desk formed in front of her, on which she set a screen. Fire Agate let out a tired sigh, rubbed her temples, and started typing.

All without a word to Steven. He frowned and tried to sit up, but his muscles failed him. "Hello?"

" _Silence_!" Fire Agate shot him a scathing glare. "I've had quite enough of your talking, Rose. Since even my best soldiers can't seem to hold their tongues around you, I'll be guarding you now. This is now my office. And you will not. talk. to me. Are we clear?"

So she found out about the Gems talking to him! "What's gonna happen to-"

"Are we clear, _Rose_?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, and nodded.

"That's a good start. Now you sit there quietly and wait for the Diamonds to deal with you. I've got hundreds of screens of cloddy Yellow paperwork to fill out." She dramatically threw her arms up in the air. "Oh, the bureaucracy! And not even a Pearl assigned to help me out... ridiculous, just to replace six Gems... Never this bad back in Era 1... Emergence date?! Why in the stars do they need me to provide the emergence date? And they'd probably check it too, I wouldn't put it past them... What are you staring at?"

Steven looked away. He'd gotten those guards in trouble. This was so messed up, he'd never meant for any of this to happen. He just wanted to go home. He just wanted to go home- no, he wanted to go home, and stay home. He wanted to stop feeling so bad, so… ugh, why was he in so much pain right now?

He could feel a bead of sweat running down his face. Something really wasn't right... was his gem cracked again? No, it was fine. He just felt... so... cramped... so tired... couldn't... hold it anymore!

Steven groaned and shut his eyes, and all of a sudden the pressure was gone. He was still exhausted, but something was different. He was... taller? He sat up; yes, he was definitely taller.

He wasn't supposed to be this tall. He didn't want to be this tall. He wanted to be human.

But… he wasn't. Not anymore. Steven sighed and curled up, his head resting on his weird knees, made of light.

He hadn't ever been able to shapeshift like this before. Cat fingers and a few extra inches were one thing, but completely changing his form just wasn't something his organic body was capable of.

And that was comforting, in a way. The Gems were cool, but at the end of the day, he'd always thought of himself as a human. For the longest time, he lived with his dad in a van. He explored Beach City, learned the ukulele, celebrated birthdays, grew up.

Even when Steven went to live with the Gems and his powers began to emerge, he still felt human. He wasn't anywhere near as powerful as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, and he never expected to be. He was simply a human with some cool powers, who went on awesome missions and watched the Crystal Gems beat up monsters. He had no idea what it meant to be a Gem, a Crystal Gem, a Rose Quartz.

In time he learned, but he still embraced his human side as much as he could. He still lived in Beach City, ate food, played the ukelele, had birthdays, hung out with his dad and Connie and Lars and Sadie, rode rides in Funland... these things, they grounded him to reality. No matter how weird and scary Gem stuff got, wherever their missions took them, whatever choices he had to make, he still had to eat breakfast every morning and go to sleep every night. He was still human, like his mother wanted him to be.

But now, sitting in a cell light years away from home, not having eaten or slept for a long time, poofing, shapeshifting... that connection was gone. He wasn't human anymore, and that thought alone was more terrifying than anything the Diamonds could do to him.

Steven wiped his eyes with his shirt. He smiled, just a little. "At least I still have my clothes."

"Ahem!"

"Oh, sorry!"

"Don't be sorry, just be quiet!" Fire Agate rolled her eyes, tapping away at her screen. "Honestly. I didn't know what to expect when I met you in person, but I certainly didn't expect you to be so annoying!"

Steven frowned and rolled over, facing the wall. There wasn't really a lot he could do at the moment. The Diamonds were still thinking about his punishment, and - thanks to his full-Gem status - the destabilising field kept him from escaping. The Crystal Gems would have to come rescue him.

The Crystal Gems - now would be a good time to reach out to them. Getting to see his family and the Earth again did sound pretty nice... and he could tell them about Homeworld and what was going on.

So Steven closed his eyes and drifted back to Earth. A harsh wind began blowing against his face.

"Ready the Quartizine Trio!"

There was Pearl. Wait.

"I'm on it, P!"

What was that in the sky?

"It's in position!"

"Alright. Greg, do your catchphrase!"

Oh no. _Oh, no_.

"Here goes nothing. Uh, if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."

The cannons bloomed, and a white light shot out of them, heading towards three green hands in the sky. They all raised a palm up to block it; it struck the middle one, and nothing happened. They kept advancing.

Three green hands, pointing down at them. Steven shivered, remembering how much trouble just one had given them.

Garnet stood tall, staring up at the hands with an impassive expression. "Fire them again."

Lapis frowned. "Is that really going to work?"

"We have to try. Greg, fire them again!"

Eyes wide, face pale, Greg brought the walkie talkie up to his face. "I-if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."

The cannons fired again. Pearl already had her spear drawn, and she hugged it to her chest as she watched the cannon's light slam ineffectually against the ship's palm. Amethyst clenched her fists. Peridot hid behind Lapis, clutching her arm with shaking hands.

They needed his shield.

"It didn't work." Greg turned to Garnet. "Should I say it again?"

A long pause. "No."

Pearl shot a look at her. "What?"

"Greg, you need to take Pumpkin and get out of here." Suddenly Steven was being picked up, being offered to Greg. "He's our only connection to Steven. We're going to need him after this."

Greg looked deeply troubled. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Don't worry about us. We'll be alright."

Behind Garnet, a sea of anxious faces watched them leave. Steven craned his head around to keep staring at them as they got farther and farther away.

"Hey, buddy, don't worry." Greg hurried over to his van. "You'll see them again. They said they were gonna be alright."

Steven looked at him. " _Dad_?"

He opened the door to his van. A pile of CD's were stacked on the shotgun seat, and Greg hesitated, glanced up at the ships and put Steven down by the leg area. Steven couldn't see anything, and after a few failed attempts to get on the seat, he felt himself getting colder, slipping away again.

He slunk back down as Greg started the van, and noticed he was sitting on something hard. In his last moments before being sucked back to Homeworld, he turned around to get a better look.

It was a book with a blue cover and a star picture in the middle; he recognized it immediately. It was his birthday photo album.

Steven looked back at Greg as his vision began to fade. His eyes were red and moist as he drove away from the Temple.

"You'll see them again."


	7. Chapter 7

Steven sat up, heart beating in his throat, breathing hard, a look of horror on his face. The Gems were in trouble!

"Something the matter, Rose?"

He barely heard at Fire Agate, who had turned around to sneer at him. He had to get out of here somehow. He had to help them!

Steven hadn't stood up in a long time, but there wasn't a trace of pins and needles when he did it now. Staring at the destabilizing field, he knew this was his way out.

He reached forwards and- _Zap_! His hand destabilized as soon as it made contact with the yellow field. "Ow!"

Fire Agate snorted. "I'm surprised you haven't already tried that. Most Gems know to leave that alone by now."

He frowned. Maybe he needed to do that with more force.

So he made a fist and punched his way through the field. For a brief moment his hand was outside and- _Zap_! Steven cried out in pain.

It wasn't working. He really was stuck here.

Outside the field, Fire Agate burst out laughing, leaning over and banging her fist on the desk emphatically. Steven looked up, and he surprised himself by the amount of anger that he felt when he met her eyes.

He was stuck here, and she was laughing at him. He couldn't save his family, and she was laughing at him. He was going to die, and she was laughing at him.

Steven clenched his fists, and charged at the field.

Pain. So much pain.

And then… pink. He was back in his gemstone. Steven sighed and flopped down on the clouds, as if he didn't even have the energy to remain upright. What was he going to do?

Tears formed in his eyes. _What was he going to do?_

He didn't know. He thought he could fix things by going to Homeworld, but everything was more messed up than ever. And why did he ever think that would help in the first place? What had he accomplished by coming here? What had he fixed by giving up everything?

These questions went on and on in his head, and he closed his eyes. This was all too much. He just… he didn't want to be here. He wanted to go home.

Steven suddenly felt a light breeze on his face, pulling him out of his stormy thoughts. He opened his eyes to find he was sitting in the back of the van, doors open wide to the night sky. He was Pumpkin again.

Steven sighed. He'd activated his powers by accident, but maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. It was always nice to be back on Earth again, if only for a little while.

He looked around; they weren't anywhere near Beach City. He hoped the Gems were okay.

A loud snore came from behind Steven, and he jumped back, before realizing there was a familiar figure sleeping in the back of the van. His dad was sprawled across some of his old t-shirt merch, mouth open in mid-snore, palms up, arms spread wide like he was offering a hug to the ceiling. The sight of him sleeping in his van was so normal, so familiar, Steven could only stop and stare.

His dad… He missed him so much. He missed the times they hung out together. He missed sitting in the van and playing music with him. He missed goofing around in front of the car wash, getting in water fights, laughing until his stomach hurt. He missed coming to his dad with a problem, hearing his advice, his quiet words of encouragement that gave him a new perspective on the situation.

He could really use some encouragement right now. He opened his mouth, but… what would he say? He couldn't talk, and it would take too much time to write something out.

So he didn't speak. Instead, with the precious time he had left, he wandered up to his dad, and lay down next to him. Almost instinctively, Greg's arm curled around him, wrapping him in a hug.

For the first time in a long time, Steven felt warm. Safe. He didn't speak.

Instead, with the precious time he had left, he closed his eyes, and he listened to the sounds all around him.

* * *

Steven could feel himself getting colder. The feeling of his father's arms around him began to fade away, as did all the little sounds; the rustling trees, the chirping crickets, Greg's snoring, all to cold, dead, silence.

He kept his eyes closed for as long as possible. When he opened them and saw pink clouds floating above him, he felt…

He didn't really know how he felt. Sad, of course, but it was less of a feeling and more of an observation: he was stuck here, he couldn't go home and his family was in trouble, so therefore he was sad. No, it wasn't any feeling, it was more like an absence of one. Like he'd cried so many times in the past few days, he didn't have any more tears left to shed.

Steven was so tired of this. He wanted to go home – to actually, physically go home, rather than take these temporary visits that only served to remind him of how far away he was. But how? He was in the middle of the Gem Homeworld, a few corridors away from the Diamonds themselves! If only he'd taken their offer to throw him out into space.

Or better yet, if only he hadn't sacrificed himself in the first place.

There was a ship hangar where Aquamarine had dropped him off. It was somewhere nearby, but he hadn't been paying attention when they took him to his cell. Maybe the guards knew where it was; yeah, if he could get out of his cell when Fire Agate wasn't looking, he could find one of them, sneak onto a ship… it was risky, but it could work-

But wait. How was he supposed to get out of his cell? There was a destabilizing field over it, and he… well, he wasn't human anymore, so he couldn't pass through it. He'd have to wait for somebody to open it.

They'd open it to take him to the Diamonds. Of course, there'd be Fire Agate and Topaz to deal with. Even he and Connie couldn't take out Topaz by herself, so that probably wouldn't work.

That could be plan B. Yeah, look at that, he already had a plan! He didn't really know what plan A was, but he'd keep thinking about it. In the meantime, he should probably get out of his gem; he didn't want Fire Agate to do that chisel thing again.

But still, he was escaping. That was definitely happening. No more waiting around and missing home, he was going to do something about it!

Steven sat up, and that was when he noticed the mirror. His smile faded as he noticed Rose staring back at him.

He slowly raised a hand to wave, and she did the same.

"Hi, um, Mom." He said, and Rose echoed his words. Steven looked down, at his poofy dress and pink curls dangling in front of his face.

"I'm sorry. This… this wasn't who you wanted me to be. You wanted me to be different, but… I'm not, not anymore. And I don't know how to fix this."

Steven looked up at the mirror again, up at Rose, and sighed. He stood up. "Can I at least have my hair and clothes back, please?"

The curls disappeared, and he smiled a little. "Thanks. I'd like to go now."

His surroundings darkened, until they formed the ceiling of his cell. He sat up to see the yellow destabilizing and, beyond that, Fire Agate grinning down at him.

"Wow. The mighty Rose Quartz, reduced to throwing herself against a destabilizing field. Are you getting desperate? Don't worry, the Diamonds will send for you soon enough. They'll put you out of your misery."

Then she turned away, leaving Steven to his thoughts.


End file.
